Intimidating Torrey Pines South course scares away many stars

Redesigned in 2001 by Rees Jones, the famous golf course
overlooking the Pacific Ocean now measures a monstrous 7,568 yards,
making it the longest PGA Tour stop and the fifth hardest as
measured by scoring average.

It takes practice to tame this beast, selected more than four
years ago as the host of the 2008 U.S. Open. And what better
practice for the crown jewel of American golf than as many as three
official rounds on the Open course as part of this week's Buick
Invitational, which takes place on both the South and North
courses?

"I'm excited about the Open being here," PGA veteran Billy
Mayfair said after a Tuesday morning practice round on the South.
"It's something we definitely keep in the back of our minds,
there's no doubt about that."

For some golfers, evidently, it's pushed far to the back of
their mind -- or out of mind entirely. Played 18 months before the
U.S. Open descends on Torrey Pines, the Buick Invitational will
welcome its usual luminaries -- Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson
foremost among them -- but very little else in the way of premier
golfers. In fact, the tournament -- which tees off Thursday after a
pro-am today -- features only four of the top 20 players in the
world rankings: Woods (No. 1), Mickelson (No. 4), Vijay Singh (No.
6) and Jose Maria Olazabal (No. 19).

"Once these players have been out there a while, they go where
they play the best, where they can make a good check," Wilson said
recently. "We feel fortunate because we have guys like Phil, Tiger,
John Daly, Fred Couples (who withdrew Monday) -- those are the guys
who actually bring the fans out.

"I'm guessing a huge part of (the top players) will be here next
year. That's maybe why some of them skipped this year, because they
knew they were going to be here next year."

Of course, some golfers will probably bypass the Buick again
next winter -- the final Torrey test before the Open -- choosing to
limit their suffering to events in which a major prize and major
glory are at stake. For example, American Jim Furyk, the
second-ranked player in the world, hasn't braved the Buick since
the renovation of the South Course six years ago. He missed the cut
in his only tournament appearance, in 2001.

Davis Love III (16th in the world) played at Torrey Pines every
year between 1995 and 2001, winning in '96, but he hasn't returned
since. David Toms (No. 17) has entered the tournament six times in
his career, but only once since the daunting redesign.

Why, the thinking probably goes, shake off the offseason rust on
a course that might make you look very silly on a very public
stage? Rancho Santa Fe's Mickelson, a three-time Buick champion who
considers it his home tournament, at least understands the
rationale.

"In my opinion, (Torrey South) is the hardest golf course day
in, day out," Mickelson said last week. "It's 7,600 yards at sea
level, plays so long. Every shot is critical and penalizing that I
think it's the hardest course we play on tour, even though the
ranking doesn't say that."

Another reason the Buick lacks star wattage this year is a
reflection of the increasing globalization of the sport. Of the
world's top 20 players, only six are Americans: Woods, Furyk,
Mickelson, Love, Toms and Chris DiMarco.

Of the 14 foreigners, six have never played at Torrey Pines.
More of the top 20 (five) opted to enter this week's European PGA
event -- the Qatar Masters, which offers $2.2 million purse -- than
to come to La Jolla.

As Mickelson sees it, that's a shortsighted mistake.

"The golf course, with its changes now, (has) so many subtleties
to it to learn that you need to play that course a lot to really
have a good chance in the 2008 Open," he said. "I'm really
surprised a lot of people are missing (the Buick). It's a great
chance to get comfortable with that course."

At a glance: Last year's champion, Tiger Woods takes a six-event
PGA Tour winning streak into his first start of the season. The
Buick endorser grew up in Cypress, 80 miles north of Torrey Pines.
He is the only person to win the tournament four times. Phil
Mickelson has three victories at Torrey Pines but none since 2001.
… The final two rounds will be played on the South Course, site of
the 2008 U.S. Open.

At a glance: Hale Irwin, a six-time winner of this event, broke
a 15-month winless streak by taking last week's MasterCard
Championship. It was the 61-year-old Irwin's tour-record 45th
victory. … Loren Roberts is the defending champion.